Go big or go home

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This article was published 08/03/2015 (4093 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DORAL, Fla. — A small slice of Donald Trump’s vast business empire includes the world of golf, where his passion for the game coupled with his love for development has resulted in a portfolio featuring some of the world’s best courses.

This week, his renovated Trump National Doral Miami is the stage for the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, one of the PGA Tour’s premier events.

Epitomizing the Trump doctrine of go big or go home, the week is a festival that includes a model search, fashion show, Carlos Santana concert and showcase for 70 of the game’s best players, including world No. 1 Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler.

This will not be just another tournament week on the PGA Tour, and that’s precisely Trump’s intention. At 68, he wastes little time and is always in search of his next deal, whether in real estate, merchandise, hotels or entertainment.

“A lot of people ask me why I just don’t relax. I can’t,” Trump tells USA TODAY Sports. “Building, creating is in my DNA. I love it… And if you’re going to think, think big. It just makes sense, does it not? I always want the best. I’ve turned down 15 things for one thing I want. I only want what can be the best. Or I can make it the best.”

His next step in pursuit of being the best — a possible presidential run in 2016.

Before heading to the Cadillac Championship, Trump spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland. A player in Republican politics for three decades, he has considered runs for the White House before but has never officially been a candidate.

“I’m very serious. I’m not doing this for fun or doing this for the brand. I’m looking at the country right now and we’re in serious trouble,” says Trump, who would become a celebrity apprentice of sorts should he decide to run.

“We’re being laughed at, scoffed at. We’re in a different place than we were before and we need to fix this. China is the world’s economic engine right now. They’re taking our jobs, they’re growing and they are the financial clout in the world today. We’re $18 trillion in debt. I love this country and I want to do everything I can to make this country great again.”

Bringing new life to the game

As with any part of his vast holdings — his net worth is $4 billion, according to Forbes — Trump sweats every detail in pursuit of distinction in golf. Ten days before Cadillac week, Trump sat in the new BLT Prime restaurant in the renovated clubhouse at Doral.

He had appeared on Golf Channel’s Morning Drive and was waiting to greet Jack Nicklaus for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for one of 10 refurbished villas named for the greatest golfers in history. Nicklaus arrived via Trump’s helicopter.

“What he’s been doing is terrific for the game,” Nicklaus says. “He brought a new life during a time when the game was struggling.”

Trump’s collection of 18 golf destinations represents some of the most exclusive in the world, including Trump International Golf Links in Scotland, Trump International Golf Club Doonbeg in Ireland, and Trump Turnberry in Scotland, which has hosted four British Opens.

He hopes to bring a fifth Open to Turnberry after a redesign under the strict approval of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, the governing body of the sport except in the USA and Mexico.

Part of a reroute includes “creating the greatest par-3 in the world,” Trump says, alluding to what will be the ninth hole with the green situated by the iconic Turnberry lighthouse.

Trump National Bedminster in New Jersey will host the 2022 PGA Championship and the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open, and Trump hopes to land a U.S. Open at Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, a Nicklaus-signature course five minutes outside of Manhattan by the Whitestone Bridge.

He also has high hopes for landing a major tournament for Trump National Golf Club Washington D.C., which overlooks the Potomac River.

And he will team with Tiger Woods on an 18-hole championship course for Trump World Golf Club Dubai.

Trump started building courses using some of the game’s best architects. In 2008 when the market crashed, he started buying up existing golf properties and rebuilding them.

“I’ve always liked to say I’m a plus 10 (handicap) at building,” Trump says.

He says he has no plans to expand his golf portfolio unless the right deal comes along. Such as the 800-acre Doral resort, which he snapped up out of bankruptcy in 2012 for $150 million. Trump pumped $250 million into a tired-looking resort in need of restoration, refurbishing the 643 guest rooms, updating a 48,000-square-foot spa and rebuilding and touching up 90 holes of golf, including the 18 of the famed Blue Monster course the PGA Tour stars will tackle this week.

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem says Trump is leaving a lasting mark on the sport.

“He has found a successful formula in purchasing wonderful properties like Trump National Doral Miami and then teaming with respected designers like Gil Hanse to bring these courses to their true potential,” Finchem says.

But his ventures in golf haven’t come without controversy. He lost a legal battle in the Scottish courts when he protested a wind farm being built about three kilometres from Trump International Golf Links in Scotland. Environmentalists and local residents protested his development plans for the coastal course near Aberdeen.

Trump’s passion for golf took root when he played with friends while attending the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. With graduation looming, Trump realized there would be no more organized sports for him to play. But golf’s handicap system — which can pit someone who shoots 70 against another who shoots 100 in a fair match — grabbed him. Self-taught, he has won many club championships and shot a career-best 66 at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla.

“I just love golf,” Trump says. “I’ve even told the head of the Wharton School of finance that they should have a course on golf. I’ve done deals on the golf course that I would have never made at a lunch or a series of lunches. I’ve done big deals on the golf course. And I’ve done very well in real estate.

“I have a lot of money.”

He also has an indeterminate amount of energy. “More energy in one pinky than most people have in their entire body,” says Ivanka Trump, one of his five children and an executive vice-president of the Trump Organization. “I’ve always been acutely aware of it. Some people just move through the paces. They have no spirit or passion. My dad’s energy is fueled by his passion. He loves to build.”

So, too, does Ivanka Trump, ensuring the Trump name will remain relevant for years to come. As a child she built skyscrapers with Legos. Now her three-year-old daughter, Arabella, builds buildings with Magna-Tiles.

“I walked into her bedroom and she was standing on her chair to make the building taller. I asked her what she was building. She said, ‘Trump Tower,’ ” Ivanka Trump says.

Cadillac week won’t be a quiet one for Ivanka Trump, either. Her handprint was on the resort’s makeover and she will be instrumental in this week’s events that include her emceeing the Dolce & Gabbana fashion show, with all proceeds benefiting United Way of Miami-Dade. Miss Universe Paulina Vega will be on hand during play, and Santana will be performing with special guests Los Amigos Invisibles and Gente de Zona.

“At the core of who we are is entrepreneurial,” Ivanka Trump says. “People who do well in our organization are people with bold visions. Passion. Spirit. The sky is the limit in our organization. My father’s greatest talent as a leader is his ability to inspire people. There are people who overpay for loyalty. There are very few people who inspire. My dad inspires.”

And he has no blueprint for slowing down or changing his ways.

“There is nothing good about the clock,” Trump says. “But I have no intention of just running out the clock. There’s too much to do, too much to enjoy in life. Time marches on.”

As does Trump.

— USA Today